Game 2 • Southern Miss Golden Eagles (1-0) at South Alabama Jaguars (1-0)
November 9, 2019 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 18-17 (1st year)
Overall Record: 53-45 (3rd year)
Record vs. Southern Miss: 0-1

Southern Miss
Jay Ladner (Southern Miss, 1988)
Record at USM: 1-0 (1st year)
Overall Record: 76-88 (6th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama used a late first-half run to run past Pikeville 82-51 Wednesday. Southern Miss raced out to a 20-point lead at halftime and cruised to a 90-71 win over Delta State on Tuesday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars host No. 24 Auburn on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles go to North Florida on Thursday.

ON THE AIR
Radio: None
Web: ESPN+ (video); J.D. Byars (pxp), Pat Greenwood (color)

RANKINGS (NET ratings through end of 18-19)
USA: #236 NET, #127 Sagarin
USM: #102 NET, #267 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USM leads 26-17.

Current streak: USM, 1 win
Last meeting: Southern Miss 71, South Alabama 67 (11/28/18)
USA's last win: 69-58 (11/29/17) in Mobile
USA's last win in the Mitchell Center: 69-58 (11/29/17)
USM's last win in the Mitchell Center: 57-54 (12/14/15)
USA's record in the Mitchell Center: 2-7
USA's record in Mobile: 9-12
USA's home streak: Won 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 6 / 8

Notes: Southern Miss is 14-6 in the last 20 meetings… USA snapped a six-game losing streak in the series in 2016-17 in Hattiesburg with a 78-55 victory, the Jaguars' largest since 2005 and scored the most points vs. USM since 2002… The Jags' six-game winning streak came from 1971-74… USA won three straight from 2005-08 after losing eight in a row from 1996-2004…USM broke the three-game skid in 2009 in Mobile… Southern Miss'  93-58 win in 2010-11 was the 12th-worst loss in South Alabama history… USA was averaging 56.3 ppg in USM's previous six-game win streak, scoring no more than 59 points.

OPENING TIP
A win Saturday would give South Alabama a 2-0 record for the first time since 2016-17 and just the third time since 1996-97.

Southern Miss is 4-1 in its last five trips to the Mitchell Center, and 12-9 all-time in Mobile.

The Jaguars opened the season Wednesday with an 82-51 victory over Pikeville, the seventh-biggest season-opening win in school history.

USA scored 46 of their 83 points Wednesday in the paint, the third-most by the team in a non-overtime game in the last two seasons.

The Jags missed all nine 3-point attempts in the first half Wednesday but went 5 for 9 from distance in the second.

South Alabama blocked 12 shots vs. Pikeville, which is the third-most in school history and tied the highest total by a team in the Mitchell Center.

Nine of those blocks came from Trhae Mitchell, who tied the individual school record and set a new Mitchell Center mark. He tied the record set by Kelly Blaine in 1984 vs. Alabama State and Frank Wilson in 1994 vs. UAB.

Mitchell was 31st in the nation last year in blocks per game (2.1) and his total of 71 was fifth in school history.

Mitchell added 15 points and a career-high-tying four steals. The 15 points are the most by a USA player in a nine-block performance.

Mitchell recorded four of the team's 12 steals, which is USA's most since also having 12 against Little Rock on March 2, 2017.

Josh Ajayi recorded his 20th career double-double Wednesday with 13 points and 13 rebounds to move into fifth place by himself in USA history. He is the ninth Jaguar ever, and first since Mychal Ammons in 2013-14, to have 13 points and 13 rebounds in a season opener.

Ajayi went 5 for 6 from the floor to take over 11th place by himself at South Alabama with 459 field goals. He is 16 away from tying Demetric Bennett for 10th.

Ajayi currently has 1,282 career points and needs 27 to tie Roger Webb for 11th at South Alabama.

Chad Lott paced all scorers vs. Pikeville with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

Andre Fox and KK Curry scored 10 points each on Wednesday, with all of their points coming after halftime. Fox, in his first game since 2017-18, rebounded from a slow start to shoot 3 for 5 from the floor and 3 for 3 at the line in the second half, while Curry, in his first college game, made all four of his field-goal attempts.

Tyreke Locure played almost 26 minutes in his collegiate debut and led all players with six assists.

Southern Miss' Leonard Harper-Baker, who had 13 points and nine rebounds against Delta State earlier this week, had 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks against the Jaguars in Hattiesburg last season.

PREVIEWING SATURDAY
Head coach Richie Riley on Southern Miss
On the USM rivalry: "Since I became the head coach here, I've learned that this is a rivalry game. It's a huge game for our fanbase and our program. They have a really good team. Jay Ladner is an unbelievable coach and he's going to have those guys ready. It's going to be a challenge. We're looking forward to it and we think the atmosphere will be great because of the rivalry."

On the newcomers Wednesday: "I thought they were good. I was proud of how we came out. I thought there were some nerves and pressing, trying to do too much. That's pretty common when you sit out a year and you play your first game in a long time. I was proud of our energy and effort. I thought the two freshmen (Tyreke Locure and KK Curry) gave us some juice, with Tyreke shooting the ball and KK's energy on defense and finishing around the rim. Chad Lott was exceptional. He was very efficient and did the same thing he does; I don't expect anything different. (Don) Coleman and (Andre) Fox are two of our key pieces and they were a little bit jittery in their first game in a while. I don't think you'll see that very often from them; they're obviously really good players, but they're also veterans. I think they got that first one out of the way and they'll be ready to go Saturday night."

On Southern Miss: "They've played one game that we've seen on film – Delta State – and put up 90 points. They're playing at a good tempo right now and scored 60 of their 90 points in the paint, which is really impressive. Jay's done a good job with the guys he inherited of getting them better in the offseason and they're playing at a much higher level. (Boban) Jacdonmi had 29 points and a double-double against Delta State. Last year his production was not great, so he's shown drastic improvement. Then you have the returners coming back that contributed for them last year in Gabe Watson, LaDavius Draine and Leonard Harper-Baker. They return two starters but they have a lot of guys back that played significant minutes. They'll be a team that comes in hungry. They'll play extremely hard and be very disciplined. I expect this to be a heckuva ballgame."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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